Island



(N fiodl.) 7 0. S. WHEELWRIGHT.

DI'GESTER OR CONVERTER.

No. 337,721. Patented Mar. 9, 1886.

.Ezweni'or: W 6 6 41m A al CHARLES S. \VHEEL\VRIGHT, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

DIGESTER OR CONVERTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,721, dated March 9, 1886.

Application filed November 23, 1885.

T0 (LU whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. WHEEL- WRIGHT, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Digesters or Converters Used in Producing Chemical Results Under Pressure, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has more particular reference to a-lead lining for digesters that are made in sections; and the object of the invention is to permit the digester proper or the shell and the liningto follow each its own rate ofexpansion and contraction without being affected by that of the other and the invention further consists in certain details or modifications of construction particularly pointed out in the second and third claims hereof.

In my application No. 17l,567,now pending, I have described as my own invention a digester, the outer shell of which is made by bolting together sections of cast metal, thein ner faces of which are in convex curves at right angles to the seams between them,while the lead lining consists of sheets, one for each section of the outer shell, the adjoining edges of adjacent sheets being secured in the seam between two sections of the shell.

In carrying out the present invention the shell is made of sections of metaheithercast or wrought, and the lining is made of sheets of lead, the edges of the latter coming together in the seams between the sections of metal but instead of being tightly clamped in said seams the sheets of lead are so held as to permit considerable expansion of the lead within the said seams,and the joints between the said sheets are made tight or sealed by fusing them together as by means of a burning-iron.

The shell of the digester shown in the drawings is made of cast metal about two inches thick. The lead lining is about onequarter of an inch thick.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a digester provided with a lining according to this invenvention. Fig. 2 is a partial section at ajoint Of these Serial N5. 1 1,031. (No model.)

L L, &e., are sheets of lead. There is a sheet for each section of the shell.

The several castings A A B B, &c., are

provided with flanges a, the back part of the adjoining faces of which are turned s1nooth,so that two adjoining flanges may be clamped together by bolts I) as tightly as possible, but near the inner edge, within thebolt-holes l1,the faces of the castings are recessed, (see i), Fig. 2,) to receive the two edges of two sheets of the lead lining without squeezing the lead to any great degree when the castings are tightly clamped together.

In the digester shown each flange has within the bolt-holes and behind the recessed portions just mentioned a semicircular groove, 9.

R is a ring of hard metal, placed within or between two opposite grooves, g y, when two flanges are to be clamped together, as will hereinafter be described.

It will be sufficient to describe the manner of forming the seam orjoint between any two castings.

In putting the sections together,the digesteris built up from the bottom and the lining inserted as the work progresses. thejoints below the joint between castings A and A to have been formed and sealed. It should be premisedthat the sheets of lead L and L were originally true cylinders, the out side diameters of which were nearly equal to the inside diameters of the sections A and A. In the condition supposed therefore the upper part of sheet L will not lie against the inner face of casting A. It is accordingly hammered or rolled back to fit the inner face of casting A, and its upper portion is turned over the beveled or curved portion of the upper surface of A, the upper edge reaching the groove g, in which the iron ring R is to be placed. The lower part of the lead cylinder L is fitted on a mold or former, to conform to the shape of the lower portion of casting A. The lining L is then placed in position upon casting A with its lining L. The two lead sheets L and L, in intimate contact around the interior of the digester, are now melted or run together by a burning-iron along the recess v,to seal the seam. The ring R is then placed upon the edge of the lining L in the groove 9. The casting A is next put upon casting A,and the Suppose all two castings are finally bolted together by' bolts 1) through the boltholes h. The upper portion of lining L is then hammered or rolled back to fit the face of casting A in like manner. as above described, in respect of sheet L and the upper surface of casting A. The weight of casting A and the pressure of the bolts force the iron ring R down upon the edges of the lining-sheets L L, as shown in Fig. 2. The grooves g and the ring R serve to steady the lining as a whole. The recesses 12 serve to relieve the lead from the pressure of the bolts, which would cause the lead continually to grow thinner in practice andrequire constant setting up of the bolts.

I claim' 1. A digester having its outer shell in sections,bolted together and provided with a lining, also in sections, the adjacent edges of the said lining-sections passing between the adjacent faces of said shell sections, and being sealed or melted together, substantially as described.

2. The ring R, in combination with shell-' sections A and A, provided each with a groove, g,and lining-sections L L,substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. A digester formed in sections and pro vided at the joints between said sections with, recesses v, to receive portions of the liningsheets, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

- CHAS. S. \VHEELW'RIGHT.

\Vitn esses:

G. F. STEELE, JOHN T. WHEELWRIGHT. 

